The Decoder
by velveteenadventurer
Summary: The arcade gets a new game, but this one's much different than your usual video game premise. It's more high tech, the graphics make you question whether they are real people or not, and it's the newest game to hit the market. In fact, it's the first of its kind. (Post movie) Some romance later but not as of right now.


_**Hi! Hopefully I will really get somewhere with this fic over Christmas break! Just so you know I wanted to change things up (and I'll probably write an prologue for this including my changes) Felix isn't married to Calhoun due to her game being moved to another arcade. I'm not against FelixXCalhoun by any means; I just wanted to switch things up! Thanks for reading! **_

It was a normal Saturday. Felix did his fixing, Ralph did his wrecking, and Venellope did her driving. The Arcade had shut down for the day and the characters were finally getting their own version of the weekend as the Arcade didn't open on Sundays. Felix had made his way out of the front doors of Niceland to meet Ralph. It was a normal Saturday, until…

"_Yes, I-I want it here by tomorrow…n-no… I NEED it here; you have no idea the crowd that will be waiting for this. Y-yes my biggest hit of the year… ehhh-o- over 300 people have bought tickets to play first thing, t-than-thank you. Have a good day." CLICK_

"Ralph…RALPH," Felix whispered.

"Uh-huh?" Ralph muttered still trying to make sense of the jumbled conversation that had just taken place outside the 80's video cabinet.

"D-do you think…?" Felix was cut off by the sound of a sugar coated cart speeding towards them.

The small cart skidded to a stop in front of the two causing some minor damage to the small 8-bit bushes that were positioned outside the small apartments.

"HEY GUYS! DID'YA HEAR!?" The small racer shouted, "A NEW GAME'S GONNA BE PLUGGED IN TOMRROW!"

"And how do you know about this?" Ralph said stooping down to her level and placing her on his shoulder.

"SONIC TOLD ME! We're supposed to meet in Tappers to watch somethin' called a tray-ill-er… I dunno." Venellope said shoving her hands in her hoodie pockets while looking down and scuffing her feet on the grass just to see how much dust she could make.

"Well we better get goin' then!" Felix said holstering his golden hammer.

Ralph tilted his head and bit his lip. Those two had seen many games come and go; most of them small games that were really never a big deal. However Mr. Litwak sounded pretty urgent and, _gosh_ 300 people already paying to play the game. _What kind of game was this_?

Chatting softly, the three made their way to the small toy-like train characteristic to Fix-it-Felix Jr. and then off to Game Central Station.

In the station you can hear the other avatars talking about the new game. Things like, "How many did he say?!," or, "What makes it so special?" Everyone was wondering why this game was so popular or what Mr. Litwak was so worried about it arriving on time.

The three arrived at Tappers where many others had congregated to see the unveiling of this strange game. Ralph and Felix conversed with Tapper.

"So, Tapper what's the name of this, _game_?" Ralph asked.

"Yea! What is it? Felix added.

"Look for yourselves, display been outside my screen for a whole week." Tapper said while drying a glass.

They shifted around to where they could clearly see the display. It had it a large TV sitting next to it that appeared to be off. Ralph turned his head and spoke,

"Is that where we are supposed to watch the trailer?"

"You guessed it!" Tapper said still busy with his dishes.

The display was huge. I had a futuristic look to it with misplaced pixels everywhere. A young girl was standing on top of building with a windblown look. She had her eyes closed.

"Is _that_ what the graphics are gonna look like?! _Jimminy jamminy…_" Felix muttered under his breath.

There were many quotes around the picture that they could only guess were reviews. One read,

"Best graphics I've ever seen!" another read, "Truly a revelation in gaming, best game up to DATE."

But as they all finished reading the cutout with slack jaws, three pairs of eyes rested on the title written in eerie lettering…

The Decoder


End file.
